Review of a study on L2 rhythm acquisition The researchers claim that "acquisition is more challenging from less complex languages toward more complex ones than vice versa" (2:2018). They rely on Eckman’s Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH). It claims that the more marked the area of difference is in the target language, the more difficult it is for L2 learners. The theoretical perspective of the current paper is the interactionist perspective. The authors rely on the statement that children, whatever L1 they acquire, are predisposed to produce open syllables words and syllable-timed rhythm in an earlier developmental stage then close syllables words, accentual and final lengthening, and stress-timed rhythm, which they can acquire later in social interactions. The two languages that are compared are Dutch and Spanish. The authors describe the Dutch language as more marked, and therefore more complex, then Spanish on the three following grounds: - Type of rhythm: a stress-timed rhythm implies a syllable-timed rhythm in an earlier developmental stage and therefore is typologically more marked; - Syllable structure: as opposed to Spanish, the majority of syllables in Dutch are closed (CVC) and have complex structure. - Accentual and final lengthening: they are employed more extensively in Dutch than in Spanish. Therefore the authors predict that “Dutch learners of Spanish (DLS) are more successful at approaching their target rhythm than Spanish learners of Dutch (SLD)” (6:2018). The stimuli included sentences with mostly open (CV) or mostly closed (CVC) syllables and also sentences with syllables of the most typical structure in each language. The results of the experiment provide evidence for the hypothesis. DLS systematically acquire Spanish rhythm and eventually produce “an overall rhythm pattern that coincides with the one produced by L1 Spanish speakers” (2018:23). Moreover, their development is quite systematic in contrast to the development of SLD: open syllables sentences are attainable even for the SLD beginners, whereas complex and/or closed syllable structures cause difficulties even for the advanced learners. I think, that interactionists perspective would be the best for this study, while innatists would expect SLD to be as successful in rhythm acquisition as DLS. For future research there would be better to use behaviorists’ perspective to analyze how positive and negative reinforcement during segmental pronunciation training affect SLD rhythm acquisition.

How to use an expression "The first+X+to+infinitive" There is a construction "The first+X+to+infinitive" in a sentence "The first player to mark off all their numbers shouts "Bingo!" and is a winner". Is it some fixed expression? When do we use it? What else can we put instead of "first"?

The usage of word "would" Why do we use "would" in a sentence "Before there were books, ancient civilizations would record things by notches on bones or rocks or what have you"? Where else do we use "would"? Could we use something else instead of "would" in that sentence?